Jump to content
HybridZ

AZC radiator + AFM = no go??


Recommended Posts

Gang - I got around to finally "attempting" to install my Arizona Z Car radiator in my 78 a couple weeks ago. The top tank sits square in the path of my AFM. It appears as though it would take a complete relocation of the AFM - or going with a standalone fuel management system to alleviate this issue.

 

Anybody installed one of these on a car with stock EFI that has the AFM mounted in the factory position? Would love to see pics, or any tips as to a workaround.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ah yes. the afm is bolted to the base. this does not work. un bolt it and mover it as far to the fender as you can. this will buy you the room that you need for the top radiator hose. i zip tied a 2"x4' patch of laundry soap bottle to the radiator hose so the body of the afm would not rub a hole in the hose. nice isn't it. it works but it is not pretty. however, my temps are dead center in the temp gauge and they do not move here on the surface of the sun. i want to go ms on mine to get rid of stuff in the bay to clean it up but untill then, the afm is wedged in there. still runs like a champ.

 

dave likes to say that these are racing parts and they require fabrication. not bashing on dave cause he makes great stuff, however........

 

jimbo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently had the same issue with "Bessie the WonderZ". I bought a very nice used

aluminium rad from a very helpful man in Georgia via fleabay. He included silicon

upper and lower hoses and a Permacool fan. On his car, it was a drop-in install.

Bessie, being spawned from hell itself, had to be difficult.My upper rad hose was right

in the way of the afm housing, even though I am already running a shortened afm bracket. I tried bolting the meter directly to the mount spot-welded to the fender and trimming the upper hose, but to no avail.

Then I hit upon an idea that worked. First, I mounted the coil on a piece of flatstock

that translated it from horizontal to vertical. A bit more room there. Then I blocked the

rad on some wood, *shifting* it over to the pass side about 3cm, and marked the new

mount points with a sharpie. I made sure the top of the rad was level with the upper rad brace, confirmed the positions of the new holes, and drilled.

A note of warning here- the frontside of the rad support is not flat, so have some type of standoff spacers ready. I used cast-offs from equipment installs at work (phone co).

Anything that deals with the bumps will work. My new rad had rubber mounting inserts, but you might use folded up inner tubes or rubber sheet to still vibration.

After getting the rad mounted, I was still very short on space, so much so that the stock boot from the afm to the throttle body wouldn't work. O'rielly's came to the rescue there- aftermarket plastic tubing and silicon coupler kits. A bit ricer, I know, but they work! I actually had to cut the 90deg bends down to shorten them even further.

Now the upper rad hose and the afm hoses are separated by about 1cm on parallel

s- shaped curves. My afm actually is floating between the ricer tubing and the hole in the rad support where the air filter used to go, but it hasn't fallen out yet. Not pretty, but it works. Sorry to be so long winded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Finally got off my arse this past weekend and got the thing in and working. It's not too terribly ugly either. Temps are dead center now. Used a ZX lower radiator hose, and went to AutoBone and searched through their hoses until I found an "S" shaped section on a longer hose that would work and hacked off just what I needed. I just removed the base of the AFM completely and let the hoses hold it in place. All is good!!!

 

I figured I'd post a few pics in case someone else runs into this issue.

 

AZC280_1

 

AZC280_2.jpg

 

AZC280_3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep. that is what i did also. I zip tied a piece of laundry soap bottle right were the afm and the hose touches so that the afm would not chafe a hole in the upper rad hose. My temps are dead center here on the surface of the sun. Even though it is a 2 row radiator, the rows are big enought that the cooling is there.

 

jimbo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...